Cordyceps is a type of fungus. Because the Cordyceps discovered early on grows on the remains of insect bodies, some Cordyceps species have extremely high edible and medicinal value. For example, the market price of wild Cordyceps sinensis is as high as tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan per kilogram. But there are also some Cordyceps species that are poisonous and inedible!
Cordyceps guangdongensis was discovered in 2005. The fungal resources and taxonomy research team of the Institute of Microbiology of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences discovered this novel Cordyceps sinensis during field inspections and specimen collection in the forest. At first glance, its base looks like Cordyceps sinensis, but slightly greenish-grey.
Figure 1 ： wild Cordyceps guangdongensis and wild Cordyceps sinensis
The stroma of Cordyceps guangdongensis grows from the fruiting body of the host macrocystis, solitary or multiple, unbranched, cylindrical to rod-shaped, 3-7 cm long, fleshy, olive, dark olive, to yellow Gray or brownish gray; the ascus shell is deeply buried in the pedestal, oval to ovate, the ascus contains 8 ascospores, the ascospores are linear, and the secondary ascospores are truncated at both ends. After consulting relevant information and DNA sequence identification, it was discovered that it is a new species that has never been reported or recorded at home or abroad. According to international nomenclature regulations, it was named "Cordyceps guangdongensis" and was published in International Fungal Taxonomy in 2008. Magazine Mycotaxon.
Figure 2 ：Ascothecia and ascospore morphology of Cordyceps guangdongensis
So far, more than 1,000 species of Cordyceps in the broad sense have been discovered, and more than 300 species have been reported in China. However, currently there are only 4 species of Cordyceps fruiting bodies allowed for medicinal or edible use in the country, which are included in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China. Cordyceps militaris and Cordyceps guangdongensis fruiting bodies were approved as new resource foods by the Ministry of Health in 2009 and 2013, and Cordyceps sobolifera fruiting bodies were approved as new food raw materials by the National Health Commission in 2020. Among the above four types of cordyceps, Cordyceps guangdongensis and Cordyceps sinensis have a closer genetic relationship. They both belong to the family Cordyceps, and the morphology, active ingredients and efficacy of the fruiting bodies are also very similar. Cordyceps militaris and Cordyceps sobolifera belong to the Cordyceps family.
Figure 3 ：Taxonomic status of Cordyceps guangdongensis
Cordyceps guangdongensis has been artificially domesticated and cultivated in 2010. Through a series of food safety experiments, scientific researchers have proved that the cultivated Cordyceps guangdongensis fruiting bodies have high food safety and fully comply with China's national food safety requirements. In 2013, it was approved as a "new resource food" by the Ministry of Health of China.
Component analysis shows that many active ingredient types contained in the fruiting bodies of Cordyceps guangdongensis are the same or very similar to Cordyceps sinensis. The main active ingredients include cordycepic acid, cordyceps adenosine, cordyceps polysaccharides, cordyceps polypeptides, ergosterol and other sterol metabolites, flavonoids, terpenes, multivitamins, etc.
